RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – According to a survey and report by Brazilian newspaper Valor Econômico, state and city investments in Brazil plunged in the first half from the same period in 2015.
Considering states and capital cities, the volume fell from R$19.5 (US$4.87) billion in the first half of 2015 to R$9.2 billion this year, a 52.8 percent decline.
The comparison is made with 2015 to consider the same period in the electoral cycle for the two levels of public administration. Just like 2019, 2015 was the first year in office for state governors. It was also the third year of the term of mayors elected in 2012. The 2015 figures are adjusted according to the Extended Consumer Price Index (IPCA), writes Valor.
Valor’s survey considered for all cases the investments included in the reports of budget execution. They don’t include the acquisition of already existing capital goods or intra-budget spending. The data are for all 26 states, the Federal District and the 24 capital cities that filed reports with the Treasury as of the survey’s time.
Of the R$9.2 billion invested in the first half, states accounted for R$7 billion, whereas the 24 capitals participated with R$2.2 billion. The reduction was practically the same for the two levels of government. In states, the decline was 52.5 percent, in capital cities, of 53.4 percent.
The survey data show that the investment cuts were not isolated incidents. Of the 27 federative entities surveyed, 19 reduced their investments.
In 11 states — Acre, Amazonas, Goiás, Minas Gerais, Pará, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Rio de Janeiro, Roraima, Santa Catarina, and Tocantins — the decline was more than 50 percent.
Rio de Janeiro led the decline. Its investments fell to R$107.4 million from R$3 billion. São Paulo cut them to R$1.8 billion from R$3.4 billion. All data are in real terms of the first half of 2015.
Read original article by Valor Econômico here.